The Point Guard

John Wooden's book "They Call me Coach", states the PG knows all of his teammates on the floor, knows their strengths and weaknesses, knows how to keep them engaged, knows when to get them touches, etc. He is basically the conductor out there. You don't need advanced statistics to see who is a great conductor. Magic Johnson and Lebron James come to mind as two ideal guys with that "feel" for the game.

The league right now is Scoring Guard heavy. Teams like OKC spend half the game watching Russell Westbrook do amazing things, but Westbrook should ideally be making sure all his players are in their optimal spots on the floor, holding everyoen on the floor accountable. His teammates aren't great and he knows that to win he probably has to take over games, but how many good PGs are there.

This season, the NBA is going to have two new ones that are exactly what I'm talking about. Lonzo Ball and Ben Simmons, also DeAaron Fox, are pass-first guards that will have total control of their offenses. There is a reason they are bringing so much excitement to the league, we finally have some true floor generals.

Here are others:

Steph Curry: I mean not really more of a scoring guard. Everyone on the team brings the ball up at times. I wouldn't even say Steph is a true PG because I don't think the offense runs through him, everyone on that team knows how to play. But Steph is great at understanding the game and knowing when to shoot and when to pass.

Chris Paul - dribbles too much and is undersized but is still an elite PG.

Mike Conley: what a surprise. This dude hasn't made an ASG, yet he might be a top 5 smartest player in the league.

John Wall: wall is an athlete first, but his game has come around to finding his teammates. I think he realizes he can't win on his own, he's wised up.

Jrue Holiday: He's pass-first and runs an offense.

Dragic, Schreoder, Mudiay, Teague, Rubio, Tj MCconnel, Brogdon, Rondo, Parker, George Hill is pretty much it as far as Point Guards who are expected to lead their team. 14 legit non bum pgs.

Of them, only Conley and Wall are true impact players. This is why it will be exciting to have Simmons, Ball, and Fox in the league. I'm not sure about Dennis Smith but I hope he is a pg more than an attack guard..

Lebron

Conley

Paul

Wall

Simmons

Lonzo Ball

will be the focus players on their teams as facilitate first point guards that are all-star level. I don't think anyone else makes that list.

LeBron is more of a point forward than a pure point guard. Magic was a pure point guard. As was Stockton. And Kidd. Those guys got their teammates easy buckets.

Really looking forward to Lonzo. I like his game. He gets his guys open, he gets them easy buckets. He controls the tempo. Then if he has to he takes the dagger 3.

Conley is a great mix of leadership, system guy, passer, ball handler, scorer, defender, and a strong intangibles guy. Would be an ideal guy for a Big Three/Big Four. More of a secondary scorer, but can still be an effective lead scorer, even if he still isn't an alpha scorer.

Conley might never have made an All Star team out West as a member of the Grizzlies, but he would be an All Star in the East. A SUPERSTAR on the Knicks or Celtics.

Ricky Rubio is another pass-first point guard. It will be interesting to see what he does this year on the Jazz. They lost Gordon Hayward but they still have Rudy Gobert and some other good players...

Things are different now. Teams are using motion offenses where more ballhandlers are involved in initiating offense. In todays game you want multiple positions to be able to create for you. That makes you unpredictable and hard to guard.

If only the point guard was running sets it would be much easier for the defense to lock in and taylor their defense to that style. Thats why shooting is all the rage. If everyone can shoot, and you have multiple playmakers, its very difficult to stop.

Dont get me wrong, I still enjoy the classic role of the floor general point guard, and I think that a classic inside outside system can still thrive. It would just need a lot of talent and the right complementary pieces to work.

This is probably an unpopular opinion... but I do not think Simmons belongs on that list... at least yet.

Sure Lonzo hasn't played an NBA game yet either, but he was a true PG in every sense of the word in college. Simmons was not. Expecting him to encompass the definition of the position is a little outlandish.

He is a big guy who has excellent vision and athleticism. A very unique talent and obviously has a gift with his passing, but that does not make him an elite distrubutor. It has not been shown that he makes those around him better or elevates their game in any manner. Again, fancy passing does not make one a floor general. He's more of a Rondo passer in the sense that he is only looking to pile assists, not make the right pass. He makes the fancy pass, but you don't see him advancing the ball up the floor early. Why? Because it won't result in an assist.

I understand that Philly is going to give him the ball to serve as their defacto point guard but it should be clear that at this point in time it is an experiment.

I would swap Rubio for Simmons and it's a solid list. Perhaps Simmons can be added to that list once he proves he can play the position and make those around him better... not just stack assists with fancy passes.